We have a 1970s mobile home given to us by my husband's mother. It is a nice home, the only problem is, it has so many problems and we have no money to fix them. The major issue is the sinking floors. We think it originated from an a/c unit that wasn't properly draining, as well as a closed off vent in the back bedroom. The floor is sinking in almost every room of the house, including a big spot in front of the window the bad a/c was in that extends to the middle of the floor which is the kitchen, as well as a soft spot in front of the fridge, a small sinking spot in our bedroom doorway, a small soft spot under our bed, in front of the toilet and the floor in the unused middle bedroom is sinking in as well. The floor is so uneven that when you put a ball on the floor it rolls as the floor is curved in and uneven due to the sinking floor. Honestly, if we could afford to we'd just move out as I think all the repairs would be more than the worth of the mobile home at this point.

The only good thing I see about this is that my husband is able to make the repairs, we just literally cannot afford to save any money for it. Other issues include soft spots in the wall where the a/c was and what appears to be mold when you peel back the paint on the walls where any a/c unit is. There is also a leak in the roof that we keep having to patch. We are still using a/cs, but they are not contributing to the sinking floors anymore I don't think. For some reason, the floor keeps sinking more and more, could I literally fall through? Could the whole home just cave in on me one day as I'm sitting here? I am scared that I or someone else will fall through the floor one day, so I avoid walking on the soft spots. Any advice to make repairs as cheaply as possible, as well as how to go about fixing the floors, would be greatly appreciated.

Yes you can fall thru. My nephew when first married had a mobile home and he was in the shower and his wife decided to join him and the whole shower pan dropped about 3 feet all at once.

You are most likely correct a 44 year old mobile home that had minimal care is at the end of its life span. All you can do if you don’t have the money is temporarily brace it up as best you can from below. I wouldn’t put a lot of money in it as I see used ones sell pretty cheap.

Thanks for the info. I feel like crying. Even worse, my mother is coming to visit for a week and the room I planned on her staying in has half the floor sunken in, though it is not as bad as most of the other spots. I guess she has to sleep in the living room again. This is our home, and our only other affordable option is a hotel and that isn't feasible as we have a cat and a dog. What would you estimate the scrap value of the home to be? How do I know when the floor is bad enough that someone would absolutely fall through it? Like where I am sitting right now, the floor in front of me is all sunken in but I'm not sitting directly on the soft spot. Should I have my computer somewhere else not near a sunken spot until I can get it repaired? Can it be fixed if we were to come up with the money? If so, how would I go about fixing the floor? Like I said, my husband can do the repairs it's the money part that's preventing us from making any repairs.

Is your mobile home on a basement? Is it in a park? , with blocks holding it up and skirting around it?

When you say there are sunken places do they feel soft and spongy or are they solid and just sunken in like they warped with water and then dried out. The real repair would be a big job replacing the floors. You could get some half inch plywood or OSB maybe even ¾ and just put it down over the floors you have held down with some screws and that would be better than falling thru.

Going below and looking up would show you how bad it is. If your husband can do that maybe we could advise more.

As to scrap value there isn’t that much. I know scrapers that don’t go near them as it’s a lot of work breaking one down and not that much material when done that they can sell. They would rather scrap a half a dozen cars that are easy to transport to their salvage yard.

It's in a park being held up with blocks I guess and there's skirting around it. The floors are definitely warped but in the spots where water/condensation was involved it does feel kinda spongy such as the spot in front of the fridge and the big one in front of the window, the wall is also soft in front of the window and we have to get sheet rock to replace it. So are you saying that I can actually get some plywood and literally just screw it on top of the existing floor for now for a temporary fix? That would really put my mind at ease, even if it looks ugly for now. When he gets a chance to look underneath it, I'll let you know and post pics of what we find.

Great. Your problem sounds like its partly structural but it’s mostly economic. Sometimes you have to stand back and see the big picture. If you are living cheap and the place is paid for and the lot rent is way less than you could rent anything else for you have to do what you have to do and living cheap allows you to “SAVE” and that will be the long term solution to all your problems.

My grandparents and my parents lived thru the depression and that determination rubbed off on me. They made do with what they had or could find. They worked hard and made it, and enjoyed the process.

Is it the right thing structurally to patch up a floor by covering over it and slapping on a coat of paint? No. Will it get you by for 5 or 10 years? Most likely yes. The only thing I would rip up would be carpets and then go over the rest with the cheapest sheet product I could find that was strong.

Once you get the below photos we will know more. If the steel frame is shot then there isn’t much to do. But my guess is the wood spanning has let go.

I just completed a similar project for a mobile home that is being used as an office. An employee actually fell through the floor (fortunately only 30" to the ground). The plywood had moisture damage due to a rubber back carpet that trapped moisture for many years. We pulled up the plywood in the damaged areas, sister-ed up the existing floor joists and installed new plywood and glue-down carpet. Problem solved.

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A 1970s most likely has particle board floors. They all rotted. I would just replace it with plywood a sheet at a time. Just be aware that 3/4" particle board was 3/4" thick. 3/4" plywood was not 3/4" thick., it is slightly thinner. You will eventually have to replace it all.